The Pondicherry cricket team (also Puducherry cricket team) is a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team that represents the state of

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry tal ...

in Indian domestic competitions. In July 2018, the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...

(BCCI) named the team as one of the nine new sides that would compete in domestic tournaments for the 2018–19 season, including the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

and the

Vijay Hazare Trophy The Vijay Hazare Trophy, (officially known as Mastercard Vijay Hazare trophy for sponsorship reasons) also known as the Ranji One-Day Trophy, is an annual limited-overs cricket domestic competition involving state teams from the Ranji Trophy pl ...

. In August 2018,

Abhishek Nayar Abhishek Mohan Nair (born 8 October 1983) is a former Indian international cricketer. He is an all-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace. He played first class cricket for Mumbai and also represented Mumbai Indians, Kings ...

, who previously played for

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, decided to join the team. In September 2018, they won their opening fixture of the

2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy The 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy was the 17th season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, a List A cricket tournament in India. Karnataka were the defending champions. It was contested by 37 domestic cricket teams of India, starting on 19 September 201 ...

, beating

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

by 8 wickets. However, the next day, the BCCI revoked the team's allowance around players from outside the state the team is located in, after concerns were raised that no local cricketers had played in the match. Eight players were found to be outside the BCCI's eligibility criteria. In their first season in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, they finished in third place in the Plate Group, with five wins and two defeats from their eight matches. The other two matches finished as no results.

Paras Dogra Paras Dogra (born 19 November 1984) is an Indian cricketer who has played first-class cricket since 2001. He is a right-handed batsman. Career In November 2015, Dogra equalled the record of double centuries scored in the Ranji Trophy when he s ...

finished as the leading run-scorer, with 257 runs, and

Fabid Ahmed Fabid Farooque Ahmed (born 27 July 1995) is an Indian cricketer who has represented Kerala and presently Pondicherry in domestic cricket. He is an all-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm off-spin. Early life Fabid was born on 27 Ju ...

was the leading wicket-taker for the team, with eleven dismissals. In November 2018, they played in their first match in the

, against

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...

, in the 2018–19 tournament. In their opening match in the tournament,

became the first batsman for Pondicherry to score a century in the Ranji Trophy. The match was affected by rain and finished in a draw. They finished the 2018–19 tournament third in the table, with four wins from their eight matches. In March 2019, Pondicherry finished seventh in

Group E Group E may refer to: * E-Group: E-Groups are unique architectural complexes found among a number of ancient Maya settlements * Group E (vase painting) Group E (or E Group) was a group of Attic vase painters of the black-figure style. They were a ...

of the

2018–19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018–19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was the eleventh edition of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a Twenty20 competition in India. It took place between 21 February and 14 March 2019. Delhi were the defending champions. The tournament had five groups, wi ...

, with one win from their seven matches.

was the leading run-scorer for the team in the tournament, with 255 runs, and Parandaman Thamaraikannan was the leading wicket-taker, with seven dismissals.

Squad

''Updated as on 17 January 2023'' Bowling coach -

Shaun Tait Shaun Tait (born 22 February 1983) is a former Australian professional cricketer who was appointed as the bowling coach of the Pakistan national cricket team in February 2022. He played as a right arm fast bowler

Manager and strength and conditioning coach - Kalpendra Jha

Famous players

References

{{Ranji Trophy Indian first-class cricket teams Cricket in Puducherry Cricket clubs established in 2018 2018 establishments in Puducherry